I am writing this because I have been contemplating recently about this topic of “what are my chances” and honestly, it does not help you, and here is why:
As a senior that has been in the position you all - juniors/rising seniors have been at, I was scrambling to get the “perfect” resume or the “perfect” GPA and standardized test scores; I was scrambling to be this version of myself that was… not me.
Here is the thing I want to communicate: You can look at colleges/universities’ websites and see the middle 50% (from 25th-75th percentiles) for standardized test scores, the common or average GPA, etc. You can also see what they focus on when making admission decisions. It is that simple.
You will end up losing who you are, stressing yourself out, making unrealistic goals and expectations, conforming to things if you are wanting to know what your chances are. Trust me, I was there in junior year, just took my first ACT and SAT and I felt like a complete failure and I knew with being low-income I only had two tries and that was it; I had to come out in the second try for both and I only got 40 points higher as the most improvement I had for my standardized test scores.
Even though my GPA is one that people would kill for, my standardized test scores were average or even by some people’s accords, “low”. Because I was concerned about my standardized test scores, I drove myself to being dehydrated, very exhausted, and unsatisfied. If a college just looks at your standardized test scores, you might want to re-consider that college/university because standardized test scores are just a number - a number that just says minimal things about you and not your character as a person and if you place so much emphasis on your standardized test scores, you care about external value and that is not good for college; it will eat you up like little critters on dirt.
Great colleges/universities will treat your scores as secondary in nature to who you are, what you are, and what you strive for in life. For example, I was telling myself, “What are my chances for UNC? Dang, my test scores are on the low-end and it is looking kind of bleak for me.” Their process I later found out as a first-generation, URM, rural future college student is that they process is holistic; they do not look at you as a number; they look at you for you, for what you bring to the table, how you might enhance their campus.
I was also worrying about my extracurriculars too because I did not do anything spectacular. I did not volunteer at a hospital, I did not work a part-time job or a job that is consider full-time, I did not do any extracurriculars for eleventh or twelfith grade besides mentoring; that was it. I could not because I was taking mostly dual-enrollment by that time and also, I was allowed to work from home on my online classes.
I explained in the Common App why and made it clear. I also was fretting because I want to major in Computer Science and my freshmen and sophomore was hell as far as math is concerned because my teacher was not a compotent one. I got a “C” in Algebra II freshmen year and a “D” that was close to a “F” in Precalc sophomore year. I also wrote about the adversity dealing with that for the Common App essay.
I knew that the odds were stacked against me, and that I had to be authentic because that is one thing people do not tell high school students - is to be yourself, show the highs and lows of you, show what you are passionate about and do not just give them a cookie cutter application because seriously, admission officers have experience reading admissions applications and they can detect whether or not you being truthful, and that is frightening when I first realized it.
But it really is not; it is great and beneficial because you want to know that whatever college you have aspirations or dreams for wants you for you and I do not see that being said, or it gets hushed up and people resort to telling students false things.
With this, there is a reason why does kids with high stats, great ec’s that are more than qualified get rejected. It is because those students do this “what are my chances” with themselves or others and face either peer pressure, familial pressure, get misinformation told to them and this equals insecurity, which means they cannot be themselves; they do not know who or what they are in a descriptive manner. I bet you if I were to conduct an interview with a peer that is a senior just like me or juniors just like y’all with those flashy stats, the thing you are most likely to tell me the most about is academics - about what you got, your stats, the ec’s, etc. but when I ask about what makes you have fun or who are you or what is your perspective of yourself, your convictions, etc., it would be awakard silence and you, searching for words because it is not second-nature to you; you are not used to knowing who you are and that will reveal itself.
And when you are sitting there, sniffing through prompts about it - about you, there is hesitation and that hesitation permeates in those essays an you do not even realize it. You then get your parents or your teachers to proofread your essays and they nod that it is good because they are the ones that fed you that you have to be generic or someone else in order to get in and you will end up getting disappointed because of it.
There is no formula; there is no magic; it takes you to met or close to meeting qualifications in most areas, luck, and most importantly, authenticity. I mean all you will get is estimations and cardboard answers. You know what “what are my chances” gets you? It makes you self-doubt, feel worthless, and ultimately unhealthy in the long run. Now I look back at my high school career as it comes to a close and I wished I would have not conformed because it partly got me in a mental hospital (of course, stuff happened in my life that pushed me over the edge outside of academics but “what are my chances” attitude got me sick).
Despite that, despite those people saying I need to get “high test scores”, “more ec’s”, “do not put you are Native in addition to being Black”, what is my results so far.
I have gotten accepted to UNC and other schools and deffered at only one, which I did not want to apply to but I did because of people spouting the "what are my chances’ mentality at me.
What to learn from this essay? Know your college’s requirements, know how they review they applications, what is the environment like, do not be competitive in nature - instead, worry about yourself only, and DO NOT act like someone you are not. Also, stats are not important when you get settled into college because it is a whole different place than high school and have more freedoms. Yes, it is sometimes tons of volume with work, difficulties at first adjusting because you are a freshmen in college, and circumstances that are out of your control that might arise but it toxic and unhealthy to be having people think you are not good enough or unworthy because your stats are on the low end for a college/university.
If there are any questions or comments that induce a response, feel free to respond to this or whatever. I am out, and good luck to the rising seniors since those prompts just came out for Common App for the 2017-2018 but just breathe and be yourself and be proud of the hardships you faced and for URMs to not get disencouraged or feel inferior because them being URM got them in college when URMs such as myself have earn that right to get accepted and we cannot help we are proud of our vibrant backgrounds.